Twist in Raichur case of woman pushing husband from bridge; probe raises suspicion of child marriage
Raichur: In a major turn to the recent case of a newly-wed woman pushing her husband off a bridge into the waters of the Gurjapur barrage here while taking photographs, the man is now facing allegations of child marriage.
Thathappa and his wife Gaddemma, who are residents of Devasugooru village in Raichur taluk, had recently visited Gurjapur and were clicking photographs, including selfies, while on the bridge across River Krishna, when Thathappa allegedly fell off the bridge. Thathappa, who was rescued by the locals on hearing his shouts for help, had accused Gaddemma of pushing him into the waters and had also decided to divorce her.
Officers who probed the matter, however, have found that Gaddemma is a minor. In the backdrop of the relationship being a case of child marriage, police officers have reportedly asked Thathappa to produce documents confirming his wife’s age.
Further, the officers of Yadgir District Women Protection Unit are learned to have inspected school records and found that Gaddemma was only 15 years and eight months old when she was married to Thathappa, confirming the child marriage. They added that they have written to the Raichur District Child Welfare Officer asking that suitable legal action be taken against Thathappa in the matter.
The Raichur District Child Welfare officers have also visited Thathappa’s residence and inquired his family members about Thathappa and Gaddemma’s wedding. The officers have said that the family members gave them information about the matter only orally instead of producing documents.
Thathappa reportedly has asked for two days to produce documents regarding his wife’s age and is expected to hand them to the concerned officers on Monday. Sources have said that he has been warned that an FIR over child marriage will be filed against him and his family members if he failed to do so.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
